


Matter Of Price

by karuvapatta



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Canon Compliant, Child Abuse, M/M, Underage Rape/Non-con, nothing graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-17
Packaged: 2018-06-09 02:42:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6885991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karuvapatta/pseuds/karuvapatta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nicaise had more earrings than he could count, so why would anyone notice the missing sapphires?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Matter Of Price

**Author's Note:**

> I have feelings about Nicaise ok :(((
> 
> **Warnings** : Nothing happens on-screen, but canon warnings still apply.
> 
> Thanks to [Cate](http://archiveofourown.org/users/basalganglia/pseuds/loki-on-mjolnir/) for the beta, sorry if I made you sad :(((

"Your sapphire earrings," the Regent said. "Where are they?"

Nicaise shrugged, his fingers skimming over the jewelled diadem. Realistically, he would never be permitted to wear it. But the interwoven leaves, so beautifully crafted, encrusted with emeralds and pearls – they would sit so elegantly on his brow.

"I lost them. Somewhere," he said, moving on to the next item on display: earrings, serpentine gold with a ruby tear.

"Where?"

He paused, fingers already itching to feel the gold.

"As I've said, I can't remember," he said. Something kept him from turning fully, widening his eyes and pouting. Lying, lying is not a problem. He had never been caught lying before; it would be a shame to break the lucky streak.

The Regent's hands settled over his shoulders, raising goosebumps all the way down Nicaise's back. The thought of sucking cock in the royal treasury wasn't entirely unpleasant – he could keep his mouth pliant and his eyes on the finery around them.

A moment passed, and there was no tell-tale tightening of the Regent's hands, no possessive glide of them down Nicaise's exposed shoulders. No force urging him down, onto his knees, and no mouth at the back of his neck. He felt a different kind of tension, and it made his heart beat faster.

"Fine. I gave them away," he grumbled eventually. "It's not like anyone will miss them."

"That's very generous of you," the Regent said, deceptively warm.

Nicaise chuckled, completely void of humour, even as a fond memory unfurled in his chest. "I wasn't generous at all. In fact, I did lose them. In a bet." He worried his lower lip, a habit which he still hadn't managed to outgrow.

"Against whom?"

"The Prince," Nicaise said.

"Ah," the Regent was entirely unsurprised. As ever, nothing moved him; he was even worse than Laurent in that regard.

Irritated, Nicaise shrugged his hands away and proceeded down the room. In the very heart of it, on a raised dais and under heavy lock, was the Crown of Vere; exposed now, as per the Regent's request. Technically speaking he was not allowed to view it alone, without the Council present, which is why he had brought Nicaise along.

For all the fuss about it, the Crown was rather simple. Pretty dull. Nicaise reached for it, utterly disappointed but curious nonetheless.

"I did not know you like my nephew so much," the Regent said behind him.

"I don't," Nicaise said, twisting his mouth in distaste. He placed the gold circlet atop his head and felt it slide down his curls, until it sat perched somewhere on his ears. "He treats me like a child."

Laurent was aloof and cold and brilliant; he could wither a grown man with one look of his icy-blue eyes. Nicaise, once he grew up a foot or more, would do that too. He was certain of it.

It occurred to him that he had never seen Laurent surprised, except then: that brief moment in the stables, when he took the earring from Nicaise. It also occurred to Nicaise, and the thought jabbed sharply at his insides: he had never given a gift to anyone. Partially because he had nothing to give, and partially because he had no one to give it to.

He thought of Laurent wearing the earring, flaunting his untouchable beauty in everyone's face. Particularly his big, dumb Akielon slave.

"How do I look?" he asked, spinning around. The Crown, too big for his head, slipped another inch lower.

The Regent looked at him with as much hunger and interest as he did at the Crown itself. That alone was an unprecedented display of genuine emotion.

It passed quickly.

"My nephew is a fickle creature," the Regent said. "You should not trust him."

Fickle? Laurent? "No he's not."

"You don't know him like I do," the Regent said, in increasingly concerned tones. He even took to pacing the length of the room. "He is selfish. Any loyalty you offer him, he will use against you. His arrogance knows no bounds. He feels entitled to the honours most men spend a lifetime trying to achieve. And this is the man who is to rule Vere?"

With perhaps unnecessary force, Nicaise tore the Crown from his head.

"Yes, it is. Is it not treason to say otherwise?" Nicaise said. He was angry, irrationally so; he owed Laurent nothing, _nothing_. Laurent wasn't his business. The overly familiar way the Regent touched him, the way he spoke about him – that wasn't his business either. "Even for you."

"Is it treason to want what is best for Vere and her people?" the Regent said.

This wasn't his place. This was the affair of kings, and high lords – all the people Nicaise watched and resented, back when he still lived in the streets. The high and mighty, who – after three years – turned out to be little better than the beggars and the thieves. Back when – back when Nicaise swore to himself that he wouldn't starve to death, or be hanged for stealing things he was too poor to buy. But now he had gold and jewels and splendid food and wine and books and games and – and – and it had its price, yes, most things did. But it wasn't so bad.

"You don't want that," his treacherous mouth said. "You don't want any of that. You only want the Crown. And you will kill Laurent for it."

There; it was done.

The Regent smiled at him. It was a genuine smile, fleeting and warm. He took the Crown from Nicaise's hands and settled it back into its box. He shut the box. Then, very gently, he touched Nicaise's chin and tipped his head back.

"You are only a boy," he said. "You will never understand. This Crown is worth its price in blood."

Nicaise thought of Laurent who could stand for hours and defend a runaway slave. Then he wondered if Laurent would come and save him too.

**Author's Note:**

> I LIED. this is an AU in which Nicaise totally survives and leads a long and happy life ^_^


End file.
